Van Persie has tainted his Arsenal legacy… there’s no way back now

Let's get one thing straight. Robin van Persie’s statement was not ‘for the fans’, as he so lovingly professed, but for himself.

By seemingly going against the wishes of his manager, mentor and man who put him where he is today, and publishing five short, but meticulously planned, paragraphs on his personal website, Van Persie deliberately made his position at Arsenal untenable.

There can now only be one outcome. Van Persie has his wish and is sold this summer to the highest bidder who, be it from either side of Manchester, Italy or Spain, has a considerably stronger hand in negotiations.

On his way: Robin Van Persie looks set to be heading for the exit at Arsenal sooner rather than later

At 4.02pm on July 4, Van Persie’s value in football’s over-inflated transfer market was worth around £25million to Arsenal. At 4.03pm when he delivered his slap in the face, sorry, update, to the fans, that had decreased by more than fifth.

Not quite the act of someone who loves the club.

No one can begrudge the Dutchman wanting off a ship he so brilliantly commandeered through the roughest of high seas last season. He is at the peak of his powers and at a point where he can command the highest wages of his career, and where he can effectively pick his destination.

But it is the means by which he will achieve this ultimate end that, in the eyes of Arsenal fans, makes him little better than Samir Nasri and Emmanuel Adebayor, two of the four players to have already swapped Emirates for Etihad since Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan changed the face of football across Europe.

Standing by his man: Arsene Wenger supported Van Persie through his injuries

Footballers and their in-house media managers love a soundbite, you need only look at post-match television interviews for a litany of cliches - ‘it’s not about me, it’s about team’, ‘we’re just taking one game at a time’, ‘the most important thing were the three points’.

There is a new one these days, coined by Wayne Rooney when he sensationally tried to engineer a move away from Manchester United, honed by Luka Modric as he held Tottenham to ransom 12 months ago, and polished now by Van Persie.

‘I disagree with the way the club should move forward.’

Doing it the right way: Cesc Fabregas moved from Arsenal to Barcelona without speaking out about the club

What this does is not only undermine the club and the players with whom they shared a changing room, but it is a ploy designed to get the fans on side, turn them against the club, to play on their emotions.

It is said that after the 2010 World Cup, when Rafael van der Vaart was being hawked around Europe following an unsuccessful stint at Real Madrid, his countryman was knocking on his club manager’s door, pleading for him to take action.

While Van Persie’s motives and ambitions at this stage are to be applauded, one has to question the impact this would have on moral among those playing in that position, one of which was Aaron Ramsey, still unsure of what path his career would take following the sickening injury he had suffered at the hands of Ryan Shawcross just four months earlier.

Villains: Samir Nasri and Emmanuel Adebayor spoke out against Arsenal and moved to Manchester City

Wenger, to his credit, investigated, but decided against making a move. Case closed. Apparently not. Van Persie has maintained his Fantasy Football attitude ever since.

This summer he is unimpressed with the signings of a 26-year-old German international boasting more than 100 caps, one of Europe’s brightest young centre-forwards, not to mention the emergence of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as full international.

The irony, of course, is that Van Persie was himself a signing much like Chamberlain. Did the capture of 21-year-old with a questionable attitude from Holland convince Patrick Vieira et al of the club’s ambition? If it didn’t, we didn’t hear about it publicly.

Winning feeling: Van Persie was part of the 2005 FA Cup winning side - his only trophy he has won at Arsenal since joining in 2004

And that is the key point. Van Persie wants out. Fine. Yet, unlike Cesc Fabregas who kept his counsel while the club toyed with his heart over his move home to Barcelona a year ago, the new captain has driven a wedge between he and the club who stood by him through a wretched injury record and hopeless runs of form. He owed them more five paragraphs.

Victoria concordia crescit, the club slogan. Victory through harmony. Van Persie hasn’t been singing from the same hymnsheet for several years.